The course map.
Eight units — four per semester — the labs that anchor them, and the two-day rhythm that runs every week of the year. This is the planner’s view — the whole course on one page.
Two days a week, and the work between them.
Every unit runs on the same rhythm: Concept Day → [student works at home] → Lab Day → [student synthesizes at home] → next Concept Day. One day forces a choice between depth and breadth; two days allow both. More than two crowds out the at-home work where integration actually happens.
Concept Day
- Arrival & warm-up — reconnect with the prior session
- Pre-lecture discussion — surface what the at-home reading raised
- Direct instruction — micro-lectures, worked problems, demonstrations
- Problem set / model work — apply the concept, solo or in pairs
- Misconception sweep & wrap-up — correct common errors, preview the lab
Guide's role: Socratic and diagnostic. Student's role: active participation; pre-reading required.
Lab Day
- Pre-lab briefing — the question, the procedure, the safety
- Safety check — goggles, gloves, clean handling to avoid contamination; explicit, every time
- Setup — instruments, evidence samples, partner assignment
- Execution — the lab itself; the guide circulates and coaches
- Debrief & lab notebook — completed before the student leaves
- Cleanup & waste disposal — to standard; non-negotiable
Guide's role: safety officer first, teacher second. Student's role: the lab notebook is THE artifact — predictions before results.
From the crime scene to the courtroom.
The sequence is deliberate: each unit assumes the one before it. Click any unit to open its mastery rubric — the standard a student demonstrates against to advance.
| Unit | Big ideas | Anchor lab(s) | Integrates with |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 · Crime Scene & Evidence Basics | Observation vs. inference, scale and uncertainty, custody integrity and gaps | Independent paper-scene sketch and custody audit | NIST evidence-preservation guidance and the 2009 scientific review; source-cited accountability memo |
| 02 · Fingerprints & Impression Evidence | Ridge features, scaled impression preservation, blind comparison, trial error rates | Coded paper ACE-V exercise and confusion-table analysis | NIST human factors and NIJ black-box testing; no identification percentages from minutiae counts |
| 03 · Trace Evidence | Hair/fiber morphology, glass/soil properties, transfer/background, repeated-reading dependence | Blind supplied-image comparison and transfer-model audit | NIJ trace research and NIST secondary-transfer discussion; class consistency is not source or activity proof |
| 04 · Chromatography & Chemical Analysis | Two-band separation, Rf replicates, blank/reference controls, calibration and recovery | Paper chromatograms in two conditions and fictional detector records | NIJ toxicology research; detection/concentration/effect distinction without substances or medical claims |
| 05 · Blood & Bodily Fluids | Mock ABO and screens, confirmation, base rates, ideal ellipse geometry and limits | Printed test cards and independently measured paper ellipses | NIJ known-condition error studies; angle = arcsin(width/length) does not by itself establish a 3D origin |
| 06 · DNA & Biological Evidence | DNA/STR structure, PCR/gel concepts, exclusions, mixtures, dropout, conditional genotype frequencies | Fictional allele cards, a paper size ladder, and a duplicate-locus counterexample | OpenStax biotechnology and NIST’s 2021 mixture review discussion; random-match probability is not guilt |
| 07 · Ballistics & Toolmarks | Diagram-based class/fine marks, conditional reader errors, ideal 2D line geometry | Paper profile comparison, paired-reader table, and bounded line plot | NIST objective-measurement research; blinding does not guarantee independence; no firearms or projectile activity |
| 08 · The Case & the Courtroom | Joint likelihoods, dependence, contrary evidence, source/activity limits, digital custody literacy | Anonymous fictional source report, independent review, digest/time audit | NIJ’s account of evidence standards and NIST integrity guidance; the analyst reports, the court decides |
Every unit carries the core spokes — History, Reading, and Writing — anchored to the story in the integration guide. The column above names each unit’s distinctive spokes; geography and soft social studies run where they fit, and students pick from elective spokes (data, ethics, economics, technology, art). An applied-math lane runs through every unit too — math used in service of the science, never as a separate program.
Where mastery gets proven in person.
Three times across the year, the student steps up to a demonstration that cannot be faked, outsourced, or generated. These are the AI-proof core of the course — understanding, shown in real time, against a rubric, in front of a guide.
Evidence-analysis defense
Analyze supplied paper/image/mock evidence and defend the comparison, controls, uncertainty, exclusions, and inconclusives under questions, without an identity or guilt claim.
Timed scene processing
Process a mock crime scene and its evidence set under time pressure — documenting and justifying every conclusion as you go.
Oral lab-notebook defense
Walk a guide through your own notebook: the question, the method, the data, the anomalies, the interpretation.
Assigned student learning
Open the eight learning pathways for specific reading sections, explanations, datasets, leveled practice, worked answers, and transfer evidence. Print the student unit pages alongside the separate assessment packets. Broad book recommendations do not replace the assigned sections.